2017 lychee exports shows great promise despite bad harvest

It’s only the beginning of the lychee crop but the atmosphere at the trading area is bustling. The fruit is sold at good price, ranging from 1.32 – 1.76 USD per kilo, around 0.44 USD higher than last year. However, this is due to a bad harvest this year.

Statistics from the Bac Giang province’s department of Industry and Trade show that due to a lean harvest, lychee yield in 2017 will be 40,000 tonnes lower than last year. Total output is estimated to hit only 100,000 tonnes, half of which will be exported.

It is noteworthy that despite the bad harvest, the province still carries out sales promotion programmes for the fruit. Since the beginning of the crop, there were upwards of 100 businesses from home and abroad that sought trading contracts.

2016 was a bumper crop for lychee growing. Luc Ngan district only exported more than 71,000 tonnes of the fruit to foreign countries. Of the total, 57,000 tonnes were shipped to China, 14,000 tonnes were to the US, Japan, Australia and the EU.-VNA